The Chinese land authority confirmed a tougher stance on Thursday, setting a warning line for the transformation of farm land to construction use. The move comes in an effort to protect the supply of farm land in China.
Chinese farm land supply is tight.
Many developers have transformed farm land into construction projects that threaten China’s grain supply.
A land resources official says real estate development may need to give way to farm land protection.
Dong Zuoji, director-genereal of Ministry of Land and Resources, said, "It’s clear and definite that the farm land supply comes first. It’s a major principle for future policies. If developers want to expand their construction space, they need to get around farm land."
For metropolises with more than 5 million people, there will be no new construction land made available for commercial property development.
"We will gradually cut off new construction land supplies in advanced areas such as Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, Yangtze river delta, and Pearl river delta," Dong said.
An industry report in January shows that more than 90 percent of the commercial property turnover in 43 major cities in China including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou decreased compared with last month or the same period last year.
Source: CCTV
